By Jack Beresford
Senior Reporter
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A first-grade child's English homework has left both her parents and the internet as a whole completely baffled.
The importance of homework remains a source of debate among parents, pupils and academics alike. In 2017, a study conducted by researchers from the University of Tübingen in Germany found that doing homework assignments was of huge benefit to children.
They found kids who did their homework diligently were more conscientious than their peers and generally worked harder at school.
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However, in a survey of 782 U.S. parents conducted by Narbis, a technology company focused on products designed to enhance concentration, over 80 percent of respondents said their child had struggled to complete homework assignments.
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Little wonder then that Justin, from Knoxville, Tennessee, turned to social media for help in completing his daughter's English comprehension homework.
Posting a picture of the assignment to Reddit under the handle u/Alternative-Watch759, Justin wrote: "Help. We are at a loss."
The "Magical e" worksheet asked kids to "say the word, add an e and write the new word. Draw a picture of the new word."
It all seemed simple enough until Justin took a look at the sheet and the various pictures of items those completing the task were expected to come up with single-word meanings for. They would then become new words with the addition of an "e" on the end.
They included a dripping tap, a first aid kit, a hopping bunny, some kind of rug, a teddy bear and a can of tomatoes. The sheet can be seen below:
"We thought it was funny the things we were coming up with," he told Newsweek. "I posted a picture of it to social media to see what Reddit came up with. My daughter came up with the answer 'cane' which was pretty solid."
The homework sparked a glut of responses and earned over 15,000 upvotes. "After trying to work this out, I find that after all these years from first grade, at age 65, I'm still dumb as a brick," one user wrote. A second admitted: "The only one I got is mat+e = mate? But even then I'm doubting myself."
A third, meanwhile, came up with their own unique list of answers: "Spigote, First Aide, Bunnye, Carpete, Teddy Beare, Tomato Soupe."
Elsewhere, one user wondered: "Is this a worksheet from a different country? England or something?" While another Redditor had their own theory: "I'm guessing, where it's a first grade class ...that it's partly to see what words the kids come up with for the images, and how they can function by adding an E to it.
"To me, it seems like a bit much for a first grade, so I don't suspect the teacher is expecting perfection, just see what results the kids (and maybe their parents) can come up with."
Thankfully someone was able to come up with something that appeared about as close as anyone was going to get to the right answer:
Tap ...Tape
Kit.., Kite
Hop... Hope
Mat... Mate
Cub... Cube
Can... Cane
"I feel weird doing the homework of a 6 year old, but I guess if it helps," the user who came up with the answers wrote, before adding: "You're on your own for drawing them."
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